Arlen Peters.
For years Arlen was an entertainment reporter, primarily for CBS, but also made many of those “making of” mini-documentaries that were used to publicize studio movies. You may not know him, but Meryl Streep did, as did Gene Hackman and many other notables who considered him a friend.
Proud to say I was his friend too.
Arlen died suddenly last week.
I’m still not over it.
It’s never easy when someone close to you dies. But when it’s sudden, he’s your age, and a nicer person you’ll never find — it truly is devastating. People throw that word around a lot, but in this case it really applies.
After being in lockdown for 60 weeks, one of the very first lunch appointments I made was with Arlen. We sat outside at Mel’s on Sunset maybe three weeks ago. How can he be gone?
Arlen was a lovely guy. Always cheerful, always looking ahead with enthusiasm. For someone who hobnobbed with “the stars,” he was incredibly down-to-earth. There was no pretense. No sense of entitlement. I think that’s why so many stars liked him and trusted him. In a town of phonies, someone genuine really stands out. And that was Arlen Peters.
Like I said, he guested on my podcast. Several times. I’m so glad, especially now, I was able to interview him and document his life. I also wanted to do an episode of someone interviewing me. And I turned to Arlen because he was such a master at that.
At Mel’s the waitress asked if we wanted dessert. Arlen was considering whether to get cherry pie. I told him, “Get it! What the hell?” He did and loved it. If there’s a takeaway it’s this: Order the pie. You never know.
RIP Arlen Peters. I will miss you terribly. There was not enough time, not enough laughs, not enough pie.
from By Ken Levine
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